[05/18/07 - 12:57 PM]Quick Take for Thursday, May 17, 2007 - Final RatingsABC spins the numbers for Thursday, May 17.

[via press release from ABC]

Quick Take for Thursday, May 17, 2007 � Final Ratings

Leading its 4th Consecutive Thursday of the 2007 May Sweep in Adults 18-49, ABC Wins Thursday During the Sweep for the First Time in More Than 15 Years

ABC is the No. 1 TV Network on Thursday for the 2006-07 TV Season,
Exhibiting Substantial Across-the-Board Increases on the Evening This Season

Growing Week to Week, ABC's First Season Finale of "Ugly Betty" Wins its Hour Across Key Women; No. 1 in Women 18-34 on All 22 of its Regular Original Telecasts

Thursday's No. 1 TV Show for '06-07 TV Season in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" is the Top Show of the Night in Viewers and Young Adults in its Finale

Starting at 10:15pm, After the Conclusion of "Grey's," ABC's "Lost: The Answers" Clip-Show Garners Solid Exposure Prior to the Show's Season Finale on Wednesday

Thursday Night (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC capped off the final Thursday of the 2006-07 TV season and the '07 May Sweep with a commanding victory in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic, outdelivering its nearest competition on the evening by 32% (5.8/16 vs. 4.4/12 - CBS). The Network also ranked No. 1 on Thursday among Adults 25-54 (6.6/17), Adults 18-34 (5.3/16) and among Teens 12-17 (2.6/9). The Network was up from the same night last year (5/18/06) by 9.3 million viewers (15.1 million vs. 5.8 million and by 176% in Adults 18-49 (5.8/16 vs. 2.1/6).

� Leading all 4 Thursdays of the 2007 May Sweep, ABC marked its first Adult 18-49 victory on the night during a May Sweep in over 15 years � predating the start of Nielsen's electronic database in September 1991. The Network posted its highest Adult 18-49 average (5.8/16) on any Thursday during a May Sweep period in 13 years � since May 1994.

� During the 2006-07 TV season, ABC emerged as the No. 1 network on Thursday for the first time in decades, showing substantial gains on the evening. The Net ranked No. 1 on Thursday night during the television season among Adults 18-49, leading the night for the first time in 3 decades. In fact ABC's Thursday qualified as the third-highest-rated night of TV for any network this season in the key young adult sales demographic, behind only Fox's "Idol"-driven Tuesday and Wednesday nights, respectively. On average, ABC exhibited tremendous growth on lucrative Thursday night, with across-the-board gains and triple-digit increases among Adults 18-34: Total Viewers (+56%), Adults 25-54 (+71%), Adults 18-49 (+86%), Adults 18-34 (+134%), Teens 12-17 (+58%) and Kids 2-11 (+17%).

"Ugly Betty" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

In its first season finale, ABC's "Ugly Betty" finished a strong second in its hour among Total Viewers (10.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.5/11), while ranking No. 1 across each of the women demographics: W18-34 (4.7/14), W18-49 (5.2/15) and W25-54 (6.0/16). Winning its hour by 17% over its nearest competition among Women 18-34 (4.7/14 vs. 4.0/12 � NBC's "The Office" season finale), "Betty" delivered the No. 1 position in its time slot with young women on all 22 of its regularly scheduled original telecasts during its freshman season.

� In its season closer, "Ugly Betty" saw its audience jump from the prior week by 8% in Total Viewers and by 17% in Adults 18-49 (9.6 million & 3.0/10 on 5/10/07).

"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:15 p.m.)

Thursday's No. 1 TV show for the '06-07 season in Adults 18-49, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" was also the top show on the season's final Thursday in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Please Note: Due to the 10:15 p.m. end time for the "Grey's" season finale" last night, an accurate program average will not be issued by Nielsen until this after noon (approx 4:30 p.m. ET). At that time this release will be reissued with those numbers. Head to head from 9:00-10:00 p.m., ABC's season finale for "Grey's Anatomy" topped the No. 2 show of the evening, CBS' season finale of "C.S.I.," by 1.3 million viewers (21.5 million vs. 20.2 million) and by 41% in Adults 18-49 (8.6/22 vs. 6.1/16). Based on its preliminary average in the 9 o'clock hour, it was the largest audience for "Grey's" since March � on 3/22/07.

� The ABC medical drama defeated the CBS crime drama in the key Adult 18-49 sales demographic on all 19 of their original match-ups during the season.

"Lost: The Answers" (10:15-11:00 p.m.)

Although reliable ratings for the ABC special that aired from 10:15-11:00 p.m. will not be available until this afternoon, ABC's "Lost: The Answers" received solid exposure prior to the show's 2-hour season finale this coming Wednesday on 5/23/07 (10:30-11:00 p.m. = 8.5 million viewers & 3.4/10 in Adults 18-49).